WIP Hero of Soviet Union , scale 1/9

[Martin Antonenko]

25. Day, November 25, 2019


I've just painted the back and the collar in one go ...:








That was really fun, because with such large areas the oil paint is allowed to show what it can!


Cheers

 

[Nap]

Hi Martin

Catching up a bit after Bugle Call ......uniform has come together well ...still amazed you can paint sections !

The question is ...belts or epaulettes next ??

Getting really close to the medals etc...looking forward to that

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[Martin Antonenko]

belts or epaulettes next ??

First the belts, then the buttons, and after it the epaulettes...


Cheers

 

[Martin Antonenko]

27. Day, November 27, 2019


Today is the turn of the shoulder belt of our Towarisch Leitenant!

First some theory:

The shoulder belt visible at the bust - which only officers wore! - kept the M 1943er belt at its place. This was also made of brown leather and had a two-horned belt buckle ...:





The belt buckle variant M 1937 ...



... was still used at the end of the war, but rarely, because the two-pointed buckle was more practical!

A highly welcome booty item were Wehrmacht officers' belts, which looked quite similar ...





... because the leather was - at least in the early war phase! - of significantly better quality!

The officer's pistol "Makarov PM" (Makarov ПМ) carrying custom-made cartridges of 9 × 18 mm caliber was worn at the belt ...



The leather pistol holster had an extra compartment for a reserve magazine - and in front of it hung in leather loops a rod for cleaning the weapon ...:



So far the theory.

Officers in action - especially at the NKVD! - however, preferred the "Nagant" revolver, speak: "Nagan" (Револьвер наган) ...:






This weapon (cal. 7,62 mm), which was already developed during the tsarist era (1895), was mature, robust and, due to its longer barrel and the resulting "V0", also significantly more powerful!

Incidentally, this revolver was also the infamous neck gun!



Shots from the "Nagan" ended tens of thousands of lives in the execution rooms of the NKVD!

Well, we will never know which gun our comrade lieutenant wears, because his right arm and piggy "Schnitzel" obscure this detail.

For me, only the shoulder strap needs to be painted - herewith ...:



I have tried to give this detail a "used look" ...:












So much for today.


Cheers

 

[Martin Antonenko]

28. Day, November, 28, 2019


The second belt - it's his turn today! - is the one with which our friend carries his submachine gun PPS 43...:




Let's take a closer look at the strap:




It is made of strong fabric - and, like everything else in the Red Army, is green-brown ...:







There were also leather belts...



...but they were not so popular, because leather does not like mud or water! After an appropriate fight one had to maintain the leather in detail, which cost a lot of time, otherwise it was hard and brittle, which was at the expense of wearing comfort.

A fabric belt, on the other hand, had to be rinsed off with water only - done!

For a long time, I have been puzzling over the question of how I paint this fabric texture in a picturesque way - and then also in used, worn-out condition.

Then I tried it like this:

With these colors ...



... I have painted the belt with countless cross strokes, stroke by dash - in always different color combinations!

It was blended with a very sharp brush - always only across (ie in the direction of the line!) And only between every two lines!

I repeated that until a light / shadow effect came up and I liked the result ...:



What do you think about it...?

The backside still has to - but only next week, because I'm going to make a little trip over the weekend ...


Cheers

 

[Nap]

Hi Martin

Thanks for updates ...the leather belt looks good possibly I would push the shadows

Interesting and helpful references as always

As for the weapon belt again I woukd push the worn effect a bit more

That aside which are just my thoughts !......looking mighty fine ..looking forward to the " bling"

Have a great weekend , safe travelling

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[Martin Antonenko]

29. Day, December 2, 2019

The back part of the belt - and then the buckles, herewith...:








At the back is still missing a part of, namely the adjustable leather sling, which was attached to the MPi.

I'll still build it - I have quite good templates ...:






Cheers

 

[Martin Antonenko]

30. Day, December 3, 2019

Today the buttons of our comrade's turn!

In the RKKA an absolutely confusing variety of uniform buttons was used - this is only a small selection and concerns only the period from 1943 to 1945 ...:



Of course, the buttons of the old uniforms before 1943 were still used!

Our hero clearly carries metal buttons on his Gymnstiorka M 1943 - so that we can safely push aside all other variants...:


Nevertheless, there are a lot of models left ...:





All metal buttons had in common that they had imprinted a star with the Molot-Serp (hammer and sickle) symbol ...:



Incidentally, the best quality (and most popular) buttons came from New York ...



... and Chicago ...:



Anyone who got something like that saved it as a treasure, because the buttons from US production did not rust, had a high quality interior (the soldered eyelets did not break off so fast!) And had reasonably flared edges, which is why the buttonholes are not worn so fast!

When painting, I now face a problem - all buttons of the bust are smooth and do not show the "Molot Serp"!



So I came up with something:

With undiluted acrylic brass paint, I carefully dabbed a raised "pattern" on each button - and washed the whole thing after drying with a very thin "sauce" of "brass" and "chocolate brown":



Although I still have no Molot-Serp symbols on the buttons, there is now a refraction of light that at least suggests an imprinted pattern!

This is what our comrade Chekist looks like now ...:








Cheers

 

[Nap]

Hi Martin

Belts look great with sharp painting on buckles ...and a great amount of information on buttons !!

In such a small area I think that your right painting them with a hint of the pattern

If I might say and it might be my iPad or different light your end but the shadows look less on the rear of the torso ?

Thanks for sharing

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[Martin Antonenko]

If I might say and it might be my iPad or different light your end but the shadows look less on the rear of the torso ?

This is partly due to the light when photographing and partly because there are hardly any wrinkles - and thus the shadows are less deep.


Cheers

 

[Martin Antonenko]

31. Day, December 4, 2019


We come to the shoulder boards!


Since the Red Army reintroduced these epaulets called "Pogony" (March 1943, after the victory in Stalingrad!), each soldier was given two different pairs:

Once a few very simple Pogony for the front and the field service - and secondly another pair for the party and the parade uniform!

These everyday and parade epaulets look very different in part - and therefore always lead to the dispute over whether a shoulder piece is painted correctly or incorrectly!

Here is an example - the insignia of a Starshij Zhershant (about: Sergeant Major / Main Sergeant) of the Flying Squad.

1. Field Service Pogony ...:



2. Parade Pogony ...:




The apparent contradiction of what is right or wrong dissolves when one knows about the two different variants!


Our comrade is indeed second lieutenant of the uniformed NKVD troops.

And for NKVD officers, the parade pogony looked like this ...:





There was also a third - special - form variant, which was used exclusively by the NKVD (and relatively unknown) ...:




The field service pogony, however, looked like this for NKVD officers ...:



They consisted of relatively rough, very dark gray-green fabric and had as piping the dark blue of the NKVD ...:





Also with the field service variant there was the NKWD special form ...



... which, however, was reluctantly worn!

For example, an officer who was captured with these pogony, who at first sight made him known as a chekist, faced a rather enjoyable encounter with German interrogators.

So at the turn of the year 1945/46 this special form disappeared again ...


Our friend clearly wears the field service version of the NKVD Pogony, as you can see especially in the rear shoulder piece of the model photo ...:



I chose these colors for the presentation of the fabric ...



... and for the blue piping this ones ...:




This is how our hero's "raw"Pogony looks now - buttons, rank insignia, and weapon badges are still missing ...:








Cheers

 

[Nap]

Hi Martin

Another great research on the epaulettes ..looking good

One question ...we're all the field epaulettes the dark gray green ..no matter what rank ? ...thinking about my violinist !

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[Martin Antonenko]

we're all the field epaulettes the dark gray green ..no matter what rank ? ...thinking about my violinist !

Hi Kev!

Dark green, dark brown, dark gray - or a mix of everything! All is possible.

As long as you hit one of the following colors - all Soviet Airforce Pogony - at the end...



...everything is right!

And the way you painted the Pogony of your violinist looks absolute ok for me! They seem to match exactely the example on the right in the second row...:



Happy painting further on!

Cheers

 

[Nap]

Cheers Martin

Appreciate your post and references will stop asking and look forward to more from this subject ....can't wait till the medals ! .....

And the pig of course

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[Martin Antonenko]

Hi Kev!

If there are any questions - ask further on please!

It would be stupid if I kept all the knowledge from years of collecting only for me, if it can help other mates...!


Cheers

 

[Martin Antonenko]

32. Day, December 5, 2019


And today: The details on the shoulder pieces!

I start with the brass button ...



... in which I - by dabbing undiluted acrylic paint - imitate an imprint again, as at the other buttens.


Second detail is the weapon branch badge.

There were the following:



Upper row:
Rifles (= infantry), cavalry, artillery, tankers, aviators

Bottom row:
Telecommunication troops, technical troops (including pioneers, repair units), construction troops, medical or veterinary, military justice

This detail is the only one that I can not exactly recognize on my idler photo and thus assign - the photo is just too blurry!

Following the law of the crowd, I transferred our friend to a rifle regiment, where most of the uniformed NKVD troops served.

They were in charge of security services, to guard, and were responsible for executions - and the notorious and dreaded "Sagradotrjadi," the exterminators behind the front, who were firing on their own army's fleeing or retreating soldiers!

Since all NKVD troops had received a comprehensive military training and were considered highly reliable, they could of course also be used at the front - for offensives, for example.

But this happened relatively rarely for several reasons!

On the one hand, the almost all-powerful Army or Front Commander (Front = Army Group) in his command area could not dispose of the NKVD troops assigned to him at will, and he had to apply for it to the head of the NKVD, Lavrenty Beria.

And Berija was better not to do - for whatever reason!

Second, Red Army commanders did not have a high opinion of the military value of the NKVD troops - and not without reason!

Most of them did not fight well - they lacked regular training and most of them lagged far behind Rotarmists in terms of fitness.

However, a few fought very well, as our friend here - what we will come!

Well, so the comrade serves with the shooters - here the corresponding badge, of which several different versions were in circulation ...:





Only later did it dawn on me that I chose the most difficult badge to paint of all - the situation would have been much easier for a tanker ...

The third detail is then the rank insignia itself!

Our friend is "Mladshij Leitenant" (Младший лейтенант - literally "little lieutenant") - vulgo:Sublieutenent, the lowest officer rank in the Soviet army.

So he has a single tiny silver star ...



... on the shoulder piece too!

So - and with these colors ...



... I painted the tiny details.

This is what our hero looks like now...:






Cheers

 

[Martin Antonenko]

33. Day, December 6, 2019

Today I start with the "Blink-Blink" that adorns the heroic breast of our comrade!

The first thing is the guards badge - I have good references, because of course there is one in my collection ...:



The term "guard" (Советская гвардия, speak "sovietskaja gwardija") has nothing to do with the usual guard term!

The equally distrustful and coward Stalin would have the devil to be guarded by such guards - his special Kremlin guard, 10,000 strong, composed of handpicked NKVD cadres!

No, in the Red Army the awarding of the Guard title was an award, not more!

The designation "Guard" was introduced by Order No. 308 of the People's Commissar of Defense on September 18, 1941, for units that had rendered special services in the fight against the Wehrmacht. This should particularly motivate the soldiers of the Soviet Army. On May 21, 1942, the special badge worn by our hero on his field blouse was introduced to soldiers of the Guard units.

The award of a unit was collective, it got a special banner (here 2nd guard tank army)...



...the guard title and a new number, the badge was painted on each vehicle...





...and everyone belonging to the unit got his badge - which he was allowed to carry on when he left the unit, such as in dislocations...:





Only large units were honored, ie divisions and armies - and thus also all units that belonged to them!

The first units to receive these awards were the 100th, 127th, 153rd and 161st Rifle Division, which were renamed 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Guards Division.

One of the first armies to be awarded the title "Guard" was the 62nd Army of General Vasily Chuikov, who defended the town of Stalingrad in 1942/43 - and was renamed "8th Guards Army" after the victory there.

With these colors ...



... I painted the really tiny decoration of our comrade.

I think that I have succeeded ...:






Cheers

 

[KenBoyle]

Wow Martin! Your painting and corresponding research are outstanding. A truly impressive work.

Cheers,
Ken

 

[Nap]

Wow Martin! Your painting and corresponding research are outstanding. A truly impressive work.

Cheers,
Ken

Can't argue with that !

..but hasn't that pig changed .......lol

Nice stuff Martin

Nap

 

[Martin Antonenko]

34. Day, December 9, 2019


The new week begins, as the old one ended: painting orders!

The second piece in the series of our comrade is the "Order Krasnowo Snameni" [Орден Красного Знамени], the "Order of the Red Banner"...:



... which was introduced by the Soviet government on September 16, 1918 during the Russian Civil War.

With the Red Banner Order military exploits were recognized, for merit in the civilian life you could not get him!

Before the foundation of the Order of Lenin on April 6, 1930, the Order of the Red Banner acted as the highest (and practically only) Military Order of the USSR.

During the Second World War, the Red Banner Order was awarded as a special honor for heroic individual acts or for military merit in the fight over a longer period of time.

From mid-1944, the Red Banner Order was awarded for a long service in the Soviet armed forces (20 years) and thus significantly devalued in his reputation.

Multiple awards were possible..:



The orders of multiple awards received in the lower third of a mitgeprägten, white enameled blazon with golden multiple distribution number...:



The highest produced multiple award number is the '8', the highest known number of multiple awards is '7' - to the Soviet aviator ace Ivan Koschedub!




Over time, the Red Banner Order went through a metamorphosis:

During the civil war he was awarded - without ribbon - in a red fabric rosette ...:






From 1940, the fabric rosette then fell away - and the Red Banner Order was awarded without ...:






After the victory in Stalingrad - when the old Tsarist uniform with shoulder pieces was reintroduced in the Soviet Union, the Red Banner Order also received a ribbon ...:






Of course I have one in my collection...:



Mine bears the number "47183" imprinted on the back and was lent after the cushioned lists in spring 1944 - thus before the time when the thing became a mass product!

One of the old versions - even with fabric rosette - I do not own! The things are hard to get and quite expensive (about two-thirds more expensive than my version with medal ribbon) - and my funds are limited ...!

The Red Banner Order consists of a red and white enameled badge with the golden hammer and sickle emblem surrounded by two golden ears of wheat on a red star, hammer, plow, torch and a red flag crossed behind ,

On the flag is the last sentence from the "Communist Manifesto" by Karl Marx, "Proletarii vsekh stran, soyedinyaytes!" ("Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь!" = Workers of all countries, unite!)




I have just finished the painting of the Red Banner Order ...:






But the right breast of our comrade sub-lieutenant is not finished with that - because if you look closely, you will find another award in one fold of his Gymnastiorka!




This is the "Ukrashenije NKVD" ("Украшение НКВД"), the "NKVD Honorary Award", which was awarded "for outstanding chekist achievements on duty" - in this form only during the "Great Patriotic War" of 1941 to 1945...:



(I would rather not imagine for what "tekist achievements" our comrade got this award ...)

Before and after the war, the award was different!


And because I'm not only a goddamn stud, peas and knobs counter but also a perfectionist (at least in the hobby!), I've just sculpted the tiny thing from "Fimo":




So much for today!


Cheers